Baby G #1 Bumpdate – The Second Trimester Finale (Weeks 21-26)

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DRESS: c/o Lilly Pulitzer  //  EARRINGS: c/o BaubleBar  //  LETTER BOARD: Amazon

It’s so hard to believe that today marks the first day of my third trimester!! I also decided it was the perfect time for another bumpdate here on the blog. This time I’ll be talking about the second trimester finale (AKA the last half of the second trimester), weeks 21-26. When you look it up, some sites/apps say that the second trimester ends at the end of week 26 and some say at the end of the 27th, but since this mama is so eager to meet her little peanut, I’ve decided to go with the version that makes the third trimester start sooner.

Click on the read more button below to catch the full scoop on all the emotions, symptoms, cravings and crazies I’ve experience over the last several weeks with my first pregnancy. You can catch all of my bumpdates and pregnancy posts here.

 

If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that at week 23, I started doing weekly bump photos (SO wishing I’d started it sooner…but there’s always next time!) So I decided to use them here in this post too. Below are my pregnancy stats so far.

How Far Along :

27 weeks

Our Due Date:

August 13, 2018

Baby Size:

Baby is the size of a bunch of bananas, about 14.5 inches long and 2.5 pounds. Our baby girl is now measuring a little small…in the 38th percentile, but our due date is still the same. I know this can change all the time in the third trimester, but we’re hoping to not have to do a C-section (my momma had to because of how big my head was and Cole was quite a big baby), so as long as she’s healthy, this mama-to-be is more than okay with a baby that’s not nearly-10 pounds like her daddy was.

Baby Heart Rates:

2/7 (13 weeks): 159 bpm

3/16 (18 weeks): 147 bpm

5/9 (26 weeks): 147 bpm

The Bump/Weight Gain:

18 pounds. Thankfully, my weight gain started to slow a little during the second half of the second trimester to around half a pound a week. I also have read that weight gain can be totally different for every mama-to-be, so as long as I’m on target with healthy monthly weight gains, I feel good about it.

Cravings:

I felt like I was so good about making healthy choices during the first half of my second trimester, but during the second half, the sugar cravings finally kicked in. I started craving snow cones (my first craving was on that Saturday it was in the 40’s in Dallas!), watermelon flavored Bubbalicious bubblegum AND Blow Pops, regularly. I’m happy to report that these cravings have died down a bit as of recently, but they were SO strong at the time, I simply couldn’t resist them.

DRESS: c/o Pink Blush Maternity

Weeks 21-22

Okay so as you can see the above photo was actually taken when I was 23 weeks, but since I didn’t take bump pics like this for weeks 21 or 22, just go with it.

Boobs Are Unrecognizable: As I’ve previously warned, I’m getting real in these posts, y’all. I talked about how much bigger my boobs had gotten in the last bumpdate, but I don’t think I’d explained how different they looked. No one told me that not only do they swell up enormously, but your nipples grow with them, AND they become much, much darker in color (apparently for the baby to easily spot them!). They’re totally unrecognizable at this point, and I’d love to say that I’m loving it, but I’d be lying. Hopefully all the changes will be for a very good reason since we plan to try to breastfeed until at least six months. As always, I’ll keep ya posted! 😉

Aches & Cramps: For some reason, headaches and cramps were frequent during this two day span. My thought is that it was because my bump went through a major growth spurt, from barely there, to very-obviously there. I definitely had what they call round ligament pain and just general cramping in my belly and pelvis area.

Consistent Movement: From week 20 on, I could feel consistent movement everyday with baby girl, and it definitely got stronger and more obvious with every passing day, which I absolutely LOVED!! I could tell  she had a lot of room to move around because sometimes I would feel her super low by my pelvic bone and at others I could feel her up by my rib cage. I think we might have a little gymnast on our hands!

 Pregnancy Pillow to The Rescue: I think I said in my last bumpdate that I’d be ordering a pregnancy pillow to see if it helped me sleep, and it was a MIRACLE WORKER, y’all!! I ended up buying this one and now I just don’t know how I ever slept without it. I went from tossing and turning one night to sleeping through the night almost completely (I did have to run to the bathroom once), the first day I slept with it. Cole calls it “my cocoon” and Lady thinks it’s her bed when I’m not sleeping in it, but I cannot stress enough how essential this product is for every pregnant woman! I don’t think I’ll ever go back (even post-pregnancy!)

DRESS: Shein  //  EARRINGS: c/o BaubleBar

23-24 weeks

A Girl Has a Middle Name: It was around this time that we decided on a middle name for our baby girl too! Stay tuned for my #vandibabybump instagram post this Sunday…I’ll be officially announcing her name!

Hunger Pangs: During these weeks especially, I found myself ravenously hungry, along with pangs in my stomach that seemed to correlate with baby girl’s movements (I think she was trying to tell me she was hungry too). The crazy things about pregnancy is that I almost never get that full feeling, which can actually be a problem. I was actually shocked to find that my weight gain slowed to a steady .5 pounds a week gain during this time because I felt like I was eating so much!!

Kicking Me Low: I didn’t know how to phrase this symptoms without being improper, but it was in the middle of the during week 24 that I was awoken by the most uncomfortable, alarming feelings of extreme pressure right above my cervix, down super low. It felt like baby girl was literally trying to kick her way out. Naturally, I got up and started Googling this symptom, just to be sure it wasn’t a sign of pre-term labor, and apparently, it’s completely normal. This was one of the movements I could do completely without during pregnancy.

Sleep-Wake Patterns: It was also during this week that I began to notice baby girl’s sleep-wake patterns. Like her mama, she is a night owl (and still is…there have only been two days since she started moving where she’s been up consistently during the day!), kicking and moving like crazy when I sit down to eat dinner and all throughout the night, and mostly sleeps through the day. Looks like Cole and I have lots of sleepless nights ahead of us.

STRIPED TEE: c/o Seraphine Maternity  //  OVERALLS: Levi’s 

25-26 weeks

Seeing Her Sweet Face: During week 26, we had an ultrasound where we got to see her in 4D! It was SO cool to get to see her sweet little facial features. Her face looks exactly like mine and my mama’s baby pictures did, but she definitely has her daddy’s nose. Seeing her face made it feel so so real and just made me that much more excited to meet her in August!

Daddy Feels Her Move: Cole actually felt her move a tiny bit a couple of weeks before this, but it was during these weeks that he could consistently feel her move, and you could see her move under my skin (which is the weirdest, coolest thing ever!)

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot: Everyone told me how miserable being pregnant in the summer was going to be, but I kind of brushed it off. Boy were they right! I had a shoot during week 26 on a day where it was in the upper 80’s and I thought I was going to pass out multiple times. Between the naturally higher body temps of a pregnant person and the extra blood flowing through your veins, it seems to feel 10 degrees hotter than it actually is outside. I’m absolutely dreading June and July…wish me luck y’all!

Hiccups: During week 25, I felt baby girl having hiccups after eating Thai food for dinner. It was a consistent, but very light little jerk I felt in my tummy every 10 5-10 seconds or so. It was so cute knowing and feeling her practicing all of the little things she’ll be doing once she enters the world!

Starting My Studies: My mother tells me I read too much when it comes to pregnancy and babies, but I’ve always been a reader, and whether or not I use all of the information I soak up before baby girl is here, I want to feel as prepared as possible for her arrival. As someone who really values her sleep, I’ve especially been reading up on books about infant sleep, and Babywise (which was highly recommended by several of my readers…thank you all!!) is by far my favorite!! From the important it stresses on focusing on your marriage to the formula it has for getting your baby to sleep through the night as early as seven weeks, I’m all about this philosophy and I’m praying the method will work on our baby girl. Once again, I’ll keep you posted! 😉

Since I did a list of second trimester products I love in the last bumpdate, I’ll wait until my next one for third trimester products I love, but go ahead and add the pregnancy pillow to the list. It’s an absolute must!! Stay tuned for my next bumpdate!! I’m aiming for four weeks this time…so I should have one up for ya during week 31!

Fairwell xx,